Just 34 percent of those surveyed said they approve of the job the Republican governor is doing - his lowest rating since taking office in January 1999. Only one governor, Democrat Richard Celeste, had lower marks.

A 1983 survey showed Celeste with a 32 percent favorable rating. Support for Celeste plummeted after he persuaded legislators to adopt a 90 percent increase in the personal income tax. Taft's poor showing, however, comes as he promotes across-the-board income tax cuts.

"Some of this is a function of the economic times facing Ohio," said Eric Rademacher, who conducted the survey on behalf of the University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research. "But that said, it really is difficult to find any positives in this Ohio Poll for Gov. Taft.

“Even among those identifying themselves with his party, his [favorable] rating is still under 50 percent,” Rademacher said.

“The governor’s ratings are reflective that Ohio’s slow-growth economy continues to lag,” Rickel said. “This underscores the urgency to enact the tax reform plan that will get Ohio’s economy moving in the right direction.”

Taft’s two-year state budget plan would begin phasing in a five-year, 21 percent cut in personal income taxes and would replace the corporate franchise tax and other business taxes with a tax on gross receipts.

The House-passed budget endorses the governor’s tax plan, and the measure is expected to win support from the Ohio Senate.

Although Ohioans remain divided over President Bush, he enjoys more support than Taft, the poll showed.

Bush had an approval rating of 49 percent, 50 percent disapproved of his performance and the remaining 1 percent had no opinion.

The findings are based on a telephone survey of 846 adults between March 21 and April 10. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

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Story Source: Cleveland Plain Deale

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; Figures; COS - Tanzania; Politics; State Government

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